His Name

Today’s Gospel Text:  But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. 13 This will be a time for you to bear testimony. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; 17 you will be hated by all for my name's sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives. Luke 21:12-19

Reflection: The mention of persecution and the type and reason for persecution is something that is unique of Christ as a religious founder, who doesn’t leave his disciples in the dark about it.

He brings out the sure truth of persecution in the language of that time and the reason for such persecution, viz., the name of Jesus Christ or the name Christian.

History has proved it and never in the history of humanity has any followers of any religion faced persecution and even annihilation in the measure in which Christians have faced for their faith all because they carry the name of Jesus and yet it has grown.

Many a times it is not for the wrong they have done, but for the faith which they hold in Jesus Christ.

When one thinks in terms of numbers then it dwarfs the whole Jewish holocaust at the hands of the fascists. 

Even today it is one of the most persecuted group, even in those parts of the world which has been predominantly Christian, on account of the rapid securitization and relativistic morality, each defining a morality that suits them.

Yet in the midst of these persecutions the faith has grown better in many places in the world: “the more you kill the more we are. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” – Tertullian, a second century Church father

Is it really the name of Christ that brings about persecution, yes primarily, it has been the cause for persecution, but there are other factors which make people with loose morality claustrophobic by the very presence of a practicing Christian: his practicing presence speaks to the conscience of the unrighteous.

We need to ask ourselves; Do I proclaim Christ and is my presence a source of discomfort to the indulgently immoral ones in society? Does it make the heretic and the apostates uncomfortable? Does it make the unbelievers refer to their conscience? 

Prayer:  Help me know the cost of following you and do so wholeheartedly, never forgetting to witness to your glorious name O Lord!

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Wise Judgments

Today’s Gospel Text:   As they were going away, behold, a dumb demoniac was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, "Never was anything like this seen in Israel." 34 But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the prince of demons."

35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Matt 9:32-38

Reflection: To hear a word of judgment, a word of condemnation and how discouraged we are to move ahead in life’s journey.

It is the sinful human nature to spew venom and if you thought that it is only women who do it then know that the men too get into such pre-judgments and slander and the Pharisees in the gospel were no less, when they say: "He casts out demons by the prince of demons."

Forming judgments about daily things in life is unavoidable. Our judgments help us to make the better choices of life. When walking we have to make judgments as to which road to take, which side of the road to walk and which way to go. We make judgments about which product to buy and what to cook and what to feed.  A busy life or a life full of activities is a life of constant judgments.

When we make a choice we almost always feel that we are making the best choice in keeping with our means and ability until someone points it out to us or unless we have realized our folly. 

We are limited by our mortality, limitations of being, perception of the future, circumstances of life and upbringing, background, friend circle and relatives, inability to calculate the various variables, etc.   All these factors influences our day to day judgments of things and hence our decision making.

If we can falter, in the ordinary and daily routine of life and its judgment, then how much more in the judgments we form of others.

Worse would be, when we begin to form our judgments about spiritual persons and matters, more so when we know in our hearts that we don’t really understand them.  In fact, it should be the other way; it is the spiritual man who is supposed to judge all things.  But worse still, when we think of a spiritual man as one who is consecrated, with a master in some theological studies, holding some church office but absence of sound Christian spirituality.

  

The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 1 Cor 2:15

Prayer:  Lord it is with you there is wisdom and might, counsel and understanding, (Job 12:13) may I seek it even as I acknowledge it always. 

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us